Last chance to sign up for our hardware hackathon!

The DevBeat Makeathon is our brand new hardware hackathon for developers to build robots, wearables, or whatever they can dream up!

The Makeathon takes place tomorrow and Wednesday, November 12-13, at the Regency Center in San Francisco. It starts at 10:00 am on the 12th, goes all night, and ends with the finalists presenting on the main stage at DevBeat at 5:30 pm on the 13th.

We’ll have food, drinks, and all the tools and components you’ll need to create your masterpiece: fuses, wire, regulators, LEDs, tubing, batteries, 3D printers, soldering irons, and more. And if you have any materials you’d like to tinker with, feel free to bring them too.

We’re expecting 10-15 teams of 3-5 people, and there are only a few spots left!

During the DevBeat Makethon, developers and makers will get a chance to work with Ford’s SYNC AppLink Technology Development Kit (TDK) and Software Development Kit (SDK). With the TDK and SDK, developers can make and create exciting new apps that may access simulated vehicle data such as location, speed, drive train status, and other pieces of information that can link to any Android or iOS device. Ford will also host a Master Class on how to connect your Android or iOS device to the SYNC TDK with the AppLink SDK, and create apps that can interact with the vehicle. From there, let your imagination run wild; use the TDK to interact with the outside world, OR use the outside world to present information inside the vehicle with the TDK.

Prizes for the winning team include:

Ford will pick one winner with the best idea using the SYNC TDK and the software development kit and give that team their own TDK ($5,000 value) and the opportunity to continue development of their app for potential commercial launch. The winning team will also receive an all-expense paid trip to showcase their app as part of the Ford display at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.